The Taming of Shiho Hahnenfuss
by paws-bells
Summary: ShiZak Post GSD. When good girls go bad, their bewildered commanders are suddenly left wondering what on earth is going on. One-shot series.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** The Taming of Shiho Hahnenfuss

**Author: **paws_bells

**Beta-ed by:** MelissaRose85

**Characters/Pairing: **Shiho Hahnenfuss and Yzak Joule

**Type:** Continuous (InComplete)

**Genre:** Humor/Romance

**Word Count:** 1572

**Rating: **T (Contains content not suitable for children)

**Disclaimer:** Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny belongs to Morosawa Chiaki and Fukuda Mitsuo.

**Summary: **Post GSD. When good girls go bad, their bewildered commanders are suddenly left wondering what on earth is going on. One-shot series.

**Chapter Summary: **Hangovers are the worst. They become even more unbearable when you are suddenly forced to notice more of your pretty subordinate than you are comfortable with.

**Created on:** 19/06/13

**Completed on:** 21/06/13

**Chapter Last Revised on:** 23/06/13

* * *

**I. Next Time, Just Don't Get Drunk**

* * *

When Yzak woke up the next morning, he was in _agony_.

The silver-haired White Coat felt as if he had just emerged from the losing end of a hard space skirmish – without his Mobile Suit. His head was pounding like someone was going at it repetitively with a jackhammer, the back of his eyes felt strained and uncomfortably grainy, the inside of his mouth felt as dry as cotton and tasted just as awful, and his stomach was churning so much that he was surprised he had not lost control of it yet.

Whatever the hell he did last night, he was definitely regretting it now. Even his own raspy breathing sounded like torture to his ears, and he couldn't even muster up the energy to swear at his sorry state of being. In fact, it took immense effort just to peel open his eyelids to take stock of his surroundings, and that quickly proved to be a huge mistake, for thin slivers of light immediately stabbed into his poor eyeballs and transmitted screaming messages of impending doom and immense suffering to his stressed, overtaxed brain. Slamming his eyes shut, he emitted a tortured, extremely undignified whimper and prayed for his death to be quick and merciful.

The quiet treads of approaching footsteps distracted him from his personal hell, and despite his physical discomfort, his well-trained senses prickled with warning.

"Commander Joule, you are finally awake." The familiar feminine voice, thoughtfully pitched low in consideration of his current condition, immediately had him at ease once more.

Hahnenfuss. Subordinate. Ally.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like shit," he managed to growl out, sounding as cantankerous as a bear that had just been rudely woken from hibernation. He had an arm flung over his eyes and looked the very picture of wretched misery. "And where the bloody hell am I?"

"You are in my suite," the Major replied calmly. He jolted inwardly at that, surprised. _Her suite? _How on earth had he ended up in her suite? Last he remembered, he was with Dearka at the hotel bar, trying to unwind a bit after the long and stressful weekend conference only to be prodded into taking a few shots by the rambunctious blonde- "Officer Elsman was thoughtful enough to drop you at my door early today."

"How early?" he rasped, intending to at least figure out the time they had finally left the bar.

There was a pause.

"You were outside my door at three am today, Commander Joule. It's two in the afternoon now."

Judging by the slight stiltedness of her reply, he could very well surmise that the brunette had been anything but pleased to have to attend to him in the godforsaken hours of the morning. He did not blame her.

"You should have just left me outside then, Hahnenfuss."

He did not see it, but even though obviously exasperated, her lips twitched slightly in recollection of her Commander's bemusing antics a few hours prior. Who could have guessed that the infamous Yzak Joule would be such an entertaining drunk when completely inebriated?

"That was not possible, Commander Joule," she managed to reply neutrally. "You were belting out the ZAFT military anthem at the top of your lungs in the hallway, and as everyone in the immediate vicinity was…_affected_ by your powerful singing voice and staunch patriotism, the hotel management requested my assistance to…moderate your enthusiasm."

And there went his dignity.

Yzak wanted very much to deny his subordinate's report, but the niggling recognition of truth in her words kept his mouth shut. Her brief account explained why the damn anthem lyrics were circling in his head like an incessant plague. Growing mortification was very swiftly chasing away most of his more pressing physical discomforts, and at last, he moved his arm away and lifted his head to squint blearily at the slender brunette standing beside the couch where he spent the night.

Quite predictably, the pretty young woman had her poker face on, though the unusual gleam in her unique amethyst eyes seemed a bit suspicious to him. If she was laughing at him, then at least she was smart enough not to do it right in front of his face. His pride was dented, and combined with his rather unpleasant wakeup call; he was not in a good mood at all.

And Yzak just knew where he intended to direct all that _pleasant_ energy.

"And what was Dearka doing when I was-" he waved his hand awkwardly, reluctant to speak of his humiliating actions. "Actually, where is the idiot now?" he demanded to know, expertly hiding his embarrassment behind a mountain of growly bluster, his voice still hoarse from the past night's revelry and overindulgence. Glancing around, he was vaguely grateful that Hahnenfuss was considerate enough to draw shut all the curtains of the room – even in the semi-darkness, his head was already throbbing dully from the visual stimuli.

"Officer Elsman was also not in complete control of his mental facilities, though he was less…vocal in his inebriation. He was already half asleep and I was able to get him settled in his suite very quickly. He stopped by earlier, but decided not to disturb you since you weren't up yet. He's preparing for our departure, and mentioned that he would drop by again later."

Yzak groaned aloud at that. It had completely slipped his mind that they would be going back to Aprilius One today. Judging by his current condition, he was not looking forward to getting on board the return shuttle. Might as well face the music now and get everything out from Hahnenfuss.

Sitting up gingerly on the sofa and lowering his feet to the ground, he displaced the blanket that she must have draped over him and looked quite irked as he spoke next. This was all Dearka's fault. "Right. What else did I do? Just tell me already. At this point in time, I don't give a shit anymore."

Once again, her mouth twitched at the silver-haired male's grumpy annoyance. "Don't worry; your dignity is left pretty much intact. You spent the remainder of your drunken state safely in this suite, Commander, away from curious eyes."

He looked at her with his piercing mica blue eyes.

"Everyone but yours."

The brunette shrugged slightly, giving into his unspoken demand for explanations. "You sang the anthem at least twenty more times, graduated to reciting war poetry, swore a lot when you could not recall a few stanzas, and were also quite eloquent on the subject of salad dressing, amongst other topics, Commander."

Great; so his humiliation was now complete.

She had intended to save his pride by refraining from mentioning the itty bitty details of his late night antics – he should have taken her up on her unspoken offer. If he wasn't feeling so goddamn awful already, he probably would have cared more about his reputation going down the drain.

Both Commander and Major were silent for a while as they contemplated the awkward situation and warily studied each other like potential adversaries. Yzak eventually tired of it though, and at last irritably blurted out, "You are not to speak of this to anyone."

Hahnenfuss just _looked_ at him with her placid, amethyst gaze, hardly intimidated by his growling and bluster.

"My lips are sealed," she deadpanned calmly at last, and once again, he had the niggling suspicion that she was laughing at him behind his back, only he lacked the concrete evidence to prove it. It didn't help matters that this woman was somehow always around to witness all of his unglamorous exploits and less well thought out actions, and it was really no wonder that she was hardly afraid of him, quite unlike the rest of his troops – if she had ever feared him in the first place. Yzak grumbled under his breath, thoroughly disgruntled by the lack of respect he was getting from his subordinate.

"I have taken the liberty of preparing a pot of black tea for you, and some painkillers as well. They should help with the hangover, Commander." She gestured to the coffee table with a slight tilt of her head, and sure enough, there was a tea tray filled with the mentioned items sitting there. So she wasn't as cruel as he had thought, and after popping some pills and helping himself to a mug of the steaming (heavenly) hot tea, he articulated his thought aloud too.

She raised a slender brow at his ungracious mutter.

"You are welcome, Commander," she replied simply, accepting the sentiments lurking behind his brusque comment and discarding everything else, and Yzak scowled. It always irked him that he could never seem to rile up Hahnenfuss, and this time was no exception.

"If there's nothing else, please excuse me. I need to see to our departure."

He dismissed her with a grunt and then watched idly from over the rim of his cup as the impeccably composed brunette left the room in her usual measured, graceful strides. She was dressed in civilian clothes for a change, showing off her rather nice figure, he noticed absently for the very first time, lithe and lissome like a dancer, and she carried herself with a quiet confidence that was strangely eye catching.

Yzak stilled suddenly as he mentally rewound his previous thought.

His eyes widened and he nearly spat out his tea.

_What the hell was that, brain?!_

* * *

_::tsuzuku::_

* * *

**Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:**

So yes, I went off and ploughed my way into another new fandom. Technically though, I have been fascinated by ShiZak for years already, and have only recently decided to contribute to the fandom due to a dismal lack of good fics for this lovely couple. My love for crack and crack pairings knows no bounds, it seems.

This is the first time that I'm writing for the GS/GSD archive though, so apologies are in order if I mess up in one way or another. I haven't watched the anime series in years, and it was a pain in the backside researching/learning all the technical jargon and lingo that came with it. Do consider this fic a Canon AU, and as always, the focus will be geared towards character development and plot than anything else.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

This will likely be a loosely interconnected one shot series, though its status may change to a full on continuous fic if I get serious enough about it.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

Last but not least, thanks for reading!

**xXxXxXxXxX**

Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-paws


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** The Taming of Shiho Hahnenfuss

**Author: **paws_bells

**Beta-ed by:** MelissaRose85

**Characters/Pairing: **Shiho Hahnenfuss and Yzak Joule

**Type:** Continuous (InComplete)

**Genre:** Humor/Romance

**Word Count:** 5106

**Rating: **T (Contains content not suitable for children)

**Disclaimer:** Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny belongs to Morosawa Chiaki and Fukuda Mitsuo.

**Summary: **Post GSD. When good girls go bad, their bewildered commanders are suddenly left wondering what on earth is going on. One-shot series.

**Created on:** 24/06/13

**Completed on:** 28/06/13

**Chapter Last Revised on:** 02/07/13

* * *

**II. The Missing Piece**

* * *

It was during a formal matchmaking meeting that Shiho Hahnenfuss quietly accepted the realization that something was missing in her life.

It had started out as a tiny, niggling doubt a few months back, but it had slowly grown into something bigger and more pressing as time passed. It bothered her, this indescribable feeling that was intangible, but yet constantly lurking in the corner of her mind. She had tried to ignore it at first, pushing it aside in favor of her work at ZAFT and other miscellaneous responsibilities, but by now, that tense feeling felt like a perpetual thorn in her side, impossible to disregard, and she had no choice but to address this roiling discontentment of hers.

Something felt missing – as if she was _incomplete_.

It was disconcerting.

Even as she was privately having her revelation, Shiho's expression remained as tranquil as ever as she sat across from her dinner companion at that moment, listening with polite attentiveness as he spoke eloquently on the subjects of his research on astrophysics and cosmology. They had both only just met earlier that evening, but the conversation was flowing pleasantly enough, and the nice food and the ambience of the elegantly posh restaurant in downtown Aprilius One that they were dining in made the experience a rather positive one.

His name was Matthias Leclercq, and like her, he hailed from a long line of scholars. His superior Coordinator genetics also ensured that he possessed the looks to go along with his immense intelligence – he was tall and dark-haired, good looking in a slightly disheveled, absentminded way, a scientist by occupation, and he was only three years her senior. Even though he did not ooze charm and charisma quite the way a certain Officer Elsman did, his quiet, honest passion for his work was genuine and quite nice to behold – not to mention, he had also been very polite and courteous towards her from the very moment they met, a perfect gentleman.

As a prospective husband, Matthias did not seem like a bad catch, and Shiho knew for a fact that he would likely fit in well with the rest of her family.

They were both the children of prominent noble Houses, after all; she the only daughter of Councilman Hahnenfuss of PLANT Maius, and he belonging to the Leclercq clan of Aprilius City who were famous for their scholastic achievements. The Hahnenfuss House, though having recently ventured into politics for the past couple of decades, had always been more traditionally well known for their accomplishments in the scientific and academic fields. Her mother was a famous Mathematician and professor lecturing in Maius' most prestigious university, and before her father took up his Councilman position fulltime, he had been at the helm of Hahnenfuss Industries, spearheading the large, family-run corporation that specialized in cutting edge, practical mechanical engineering and robotics solutions for both civilian and military usage, the leadership of the latter now taken over by her older brother.

Instead of following her only sibling into the research and development laboratories of their family business, Shiho had chosen to enlist in the military instead, excelling in her studies and graduating from the academy with top honors, earning herself the right to wear the elite red uniform of the ZAFT army. She had been thrown unceremoniously into two wars almost immediately after her graduation, and had fought and miraculously survived both trials by fire as an MS ace pilot, gaining the status of decorated war veteran in the process along with the rest of her battle comrades. It had been four years since the end of the Second Bloody Valentine War, and now, at the age of twenty two, her parents had deemed her old enough to start considering for her future for the long run.

Shiho had always been a dutiful, obliging child growing up, and now that she was an adult, her calm, logical nature ensured that she blandly went along with her parents' suggestion – arranged marriages between PLANT's aristocratic families had always been the norm for most of the upper class social elites, and Shiho had always known that she would one day be expected to make a good match as well.

It was funny though, that she was feeling so uncharacteristically restless recently, and she did not quite know what to make of it.

_What am I missing?_

"I do apologize, Shiho, I have been told that I tend to ramble too much when it comes to my work," Matthias spoke then, looking quite chagrinned.

Shiho shook her head slightly. "It's alright, I don't mind," she replied politely, reaching for her wineglass at the same time. "It's wonderful that you are so involved in your occupation, Matthias."

The dark-haired male smiled sheepishly, pleased and embarrassed by her sincere compliment. "What about you, Shiho? What is your work like?"

"I enjoy my work too. I split my time between Armory One in Lagrange 4 and the ZAFT Headquarters in Aprilius One, dealing with research and the test piloting of new MS at the former and simple bureaucratic issues and office work pertaining to my team in the case of the latter."

The corners of Matthias' eyes crinkled as he smiled. "That sounds positively idyllic," he commented. "It's good that the wars are finally over, isn't it?"

Shiho nodded, returning his easy smile with a small quirk of her lips. "Yes, it's nice that we are living in peaceful times once more."

The meal commenced with more small talk as the couple deftly avoided the issue of their families, though it became inevitable that it was finally brought up as dinner eventually drew to a close. The pair made a striking picture as they left the restaurant – Shiho had worn a simple blouse and tailored pants that accentuated her slender legs and feminine figure, and Matthias, in his dress shirt and jeans, had complemented her in both physical appearance and demeanor. As they both stood outside the dining establishment, Matthias glanced at the quiet, amethyst-eyed woman from the corner of his eyes and fought the urge to rub the back of his neck in nervousness.

"Erm, I enjoyed myself this evening. If you don't mind, Shiho," he mumbled then, looking quite self-conscious and shy as he did so. "I would love to meet with you again."

The brunette studied the awkward male with serious eyes, and at last, she slowly nodded. "I enjoyed dinner as well, Matthias," Shiho simply echoed his sentiments. "I certainly won't object to another outing."

Her demure response seemed to please her dark-haired companion, judging by the earnest smile growing on his face, and after making some arrangements to contact each other in the near future, they finally parted ways.

It was a nice night in Aprilius One, and so Shiho decided to take a walk instead of just hailing a cab to bring her straight back to her apartment. It was a Saturday evening and all around her were large groups of revelers and party goers, and the downtown scene was so active and colorful with the hodgepodge mix of humanity that the brunette could not help but meander off to a nearby bench to sit down and observe her surroundings instead. The people all looked so happy in their blissful little bubbles – courting couples in love, boisterous gatherings of friends enjoying their time with each other – all so animated in their joy and contentment at the moment that Shiho could not help but just stare, attracted to their expressive displays of emotions and feelings.

She herself had never quite experienced such excessive sentiments before – being a rather serious, sedate individual by nature and also working in a rigidly structured military environment that tended to discourage emotional outbursts and flairs for the dramatic as a rule of thumb. These people –civilians, she would guess – seemed quite happy though, and it made her wonder what it felt like to be just as carefree.

_I want to be happy too_, Shiho abruptly decided.

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at the unexpected admission that came from her heart.

She wasn't exactly unhappy with her life, per se. She had a secure, high paying job doing what she liked. She was highly accomplished; well respected and acknowledged as a hero and military veteran for her efforts and services contributed to both of the wars she had participated in. She had a good relationship with her family, was from an affluent background, and had never lacked for anything in her entire life. All of her basic needs were well taken care of, and the next stages of her life perfectly planned out and ready for her to get on with. Her life was perfect.

…Perhaps just _too_ perfect.

No, she wasn't unhappy. But she wasn't exactly happy, either.

She had always unfailingly done all the things that were required of her without complaint and hesitation, fulfilling them perfectly like they were just little goals and stepping stones to get on and over with and then to the next ones because they were what was expected out of her – _because wasn't this what everyone else was doing too? _

Why then, did it feel like she was missing out? Why then, did it sometimes feel like it was getting harder and harder to breathe, to relax, that the world was slowly closing in on her, that the pressure was getting to be too much?

_I don't want to live like this_, she realized quietly, _that's not what I want. _

_There must be more to life than just this, right?_

_How do I be happy, anyway?_

Shiho had to think hard about that question for a while, because she really had no idea where to start. That upset her greatly. When had she became so _complacent_ with herself that she no longer even knew what made her happy?

_Happiness is…being able to do what you want, right?_

_But…what do I want?_

…Shiho was stumped to realize that she had no idea what she wanted to do. Standing up from the bench, she started to walk away, a small, distracted furrow sitting on her brow, her head buzzing with thoughts as she slowly made her way back.

It was the little things, right? What about those things that she had always thought she would like to try or attempt at least once in her life, the things that she had thought or dreamed about when she was younger, what seemed like such a long time ago, but didn't have the time – or the _courage_ – to do? She could start now, could probably start with something small-

As if her resolution had abruptly removed some invisible blocker in her mind, all of a sudden, there were so many ideas filtering through that she was momentarily overwhelmed. All those years of rational self-control and deliberate repression had amassed in her an unhealthily huge amount of unfulfilled wants and wishes, and right now, _Shiho Hahnenfuss was like an unsupervised child in a candy store_.

It felt disorienting.

It felt liberating.

It felt _good_.

For the first time in a very long while, the brunette's blood quickened with anticipation and excitement that had nothing to do with the anxious, jittery fever of an impending space battle, and everything to do with the pursuit of her personal wants and desires. It was as if she had just been granted a new perspective on the world, and everything was fascinating and brand new once again. The glass ceiling that she had imposed on herself had been broken, and without that cage holding her in, she was technically free to do whatever she wanted.

_I just want to be happy. _

It felt like the right thing to do, and the mere thought of it immediately made that suffocating pressure sitting on her chest ease a little, made her feel so much better. Her violet eyes glowed with conviction. She was heading towards the right direction.

It was wonderful.

Shiho swiftly hurried home, now filled with an empowering sense of purpose and urgency, her mind running at a hundred miles an hour. When she finally got back into her apartment, she immediately dropped everything and speedily grabbed a pen and a notepad from her side table. Huddled on her couch, not even bothering to change out of her clothes first, she started to scribble out all the thoughts and plans swirling about in her head like a person possessed. Ideas kept pouring out of her like an unending tide, and it felt like hours before her mad writing finally slowed, her hand cramping badly, an uncomfortable crick in her neck and an ache in her back from her ungraceful sitting posture that her old nanny would have berated her for if the latter ever found out how she was comporting herself right now.

But Shiho was _smiling_, cathartic contentment flowing in her veins as she sat there relishing in the absolute quiet of her living room, feeling at peace with and _proud_ of herself.

It was _good_.

It didn't take very long before the niggling urge to get started on her new project immediately nudged her out of her momentary feelings of bliss and satisfaction, her perfectionist nature kicking in hard and stubbornly insisting that she start working on her plans right away. Looking down at the notepad in her hands and carefully, _reverently _going through the numerous pages of her overly zealous, enthusiastic writings, the young woman paused every now and then as she stared at the more…frivolous demands scrawled messily in there, things that she would never have dared written down or openly stated under the usual, rational influence of her calm, logical state of mind, but nonetheless still her secret desires and wants all the same.

Shiho hesitated, biting her lip with uncharacteristic indecision as she stared at her own handwriting, fleeting uncertainty and misgivings creeping up on her before she shook her head resolutely and banished them all away. Resolve crept into her violet eyes and cemented her determination. These here were all the candid, unbiased wishes of her heart, each pure and pristine in their original form, untainted by her fears or shame or doubt, the stark honesty of her soul poured out onto paper in a rare moment of lucid clarity. And now that Shiho was aware of their presence, she wasn't about to just bury them back deep within herself and forget about their existence like she had done for the last twenty two years of her life.

It would feel as if she was betraying herself somehow, and a fundamental part of Shiho went stiff with resistance at the very idea of it.

_No more. _

_No regrets._

Here was the chance to something new, here was the chance to happiness, and for once, Shiho was going to take a blind leap of faith and reach out for it, everything else be damned. It would surely be an interesting experience, at least, and already, the usually placid, unfussy brunette was feeling quite impatient to _begin_.

She was going to learn how to live for herself from now on.

_Though I should probably start by drawing up a neater list first…_

* * *

It took Yzak Joule a grand total of five days before he finally noticed that all was not right in his office.

Mostly, it was the immense backlog of unanswered correspondence that had somehow piled up in the ZAFT servers seemingly overnight that had cued him in to the fact, as well as the overwhelming stacks of documents that were sitting on his desk with impudent audacity, tall enough to be towering over his head and taunting him with their incompleteness and varying degrees of color coded urgency at the same time. While he was usually able to (barely) get on top of the necessary evil that was ZAFT's bureaucratic system most days, it was not something that he particularly enjoyed doing and would therefore put off if he could manage it, choosing to deal only with the more pressing and important matters and ignoring the rest. Even so, most of the latter issues that ended up on his desk would somehow miraculously resolve themselves without much interference from him, so the fact that he was now facing what looked like an epidemic of the paperwork kind had definitely taken him back when he entered the headquarters that morning for yet another day of dull paper pushing and unbearable office politics.

This was not what he signed up for when he enlisted into the military years ago, but it was an inescapable fact that the higher echelons of the ZAFT command chain were responsible for all administration affairs and bureaucratic activities of the Teams and divisions under their jurisdiction. As the Commander of the Joule Team and the two Nazca-class Destroyers _Voltaire_ and _Rousseau_, he was accountable for everything from the ships' weekly maintenance schedule to the dental benefits of the men and women who worked under him. Needless to say, that was a lot of responsibility for someone who hadn't even wanted to be in charge of all that trouble in the first place, and Yzak's eyebrow twitched something fierce as he glowered at his overflowing desk.

Shrugging off his coat and hanging it up in the corner, the silver-haired Coordinator stalked over to his desk and took his seat. He was not pleased to find his line of sight to the door immediately obscured by the papers stacked around him – actually, at that moment, there was nothing but paper for as far as he could see. Also, he couldn't even see his desk – it was _that_ cluttered – how on earth was he supposed to even work like this? Scowling even more irritably than before, Yzak wasted no time picking up the phone and dialing for assistance. Swiftly punching in the numbers of a familiar extension on the interface, he quickly snapped out the moment the call connected.

"Hahnenfuss. In my office. Now."

The short tempered male didn't wait for any confirmation from his capable subordinate and hung up on his side unceremoniously, grumbling under his breath as he started the unpleasant process of wading through all that paperwork. He was indignant to quickly find that the various documents were not even properly sorted according to the departments that they had been sent from and by level of importance like they usually were, and there was something of everything _all over the place_. It was very unlike Hahnenfuss's usual modus operandi – the Major had always been very thorough and conscientious in her work – and was so staidly dependable and trustworthy that he had actually drafted her to assist in the various day-to-day issues of Team Joule, freeing him up for more important matters like the running of his flagship _Voltaire_ (he had put Dearka in charge of the _Rousseau_ since the other Captain was always strolling about the place with seemingly nothing better to do) and dealing with the downright annoying political agendas of the higher ups of ZAFT's military commands and the PLANT Supreme Council.

As such, Yzak was not amused to have to face this mess in his office so early in the morning, and before his first cup of coffee, to boot. Speaking of which, Hahnenfuss had better be prepared to appease his temper because it was already starting to boil over, and getting worse by the second.

"What on earth is this," he muttered to himself as he booted up the computer and was immediately greeted with a flood of incoming messages from the ZAFT servers. There were the usual insufferable demands and requests for meetings and information from the different department heads for the discussion of various matters (he would pretend that he didn't see these), memos and notices passed down from the ZAFT administration (deleted immediately after reading), silly office referendums and polite/idle/worthless communiqué/greetings between the high ranking officers of ZAFT (deleted immediately _before_ reading), and then there were-

_Huh?_

"…ZAFT Annual Bakeoff Contest? May the best pastry win? T-shirt…Design Competition? Display your inner style..? ZAFT Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction: Summer Swimsuit Edition? Love yourself a soldier…? What the hell?!"

The expression on Yzak face was incredulous. What were all these ridiculous subject titles doing on his screen and who was the perpetrator foolish enough to hack into the military accounts to send out these sort of memos to the entirety of ZAFT?! Was this a bloody joke? There were even more of the questionable messages as he continued to scroll through his inbox, and the fair-haired male was so flabbergasted by his discovery that he nearly forgot about Hahnenfuss when a soft, timid knock sounded against his door.

Sharp blue eyes focused, and the White Coat lifted his head, already scowling once again.

"Come in!"

The door opened with a soft, pneumatic hiss, and then shut just as quietly seconds later, but since Yzak was still surrounded on all sides by stacks of papers, he was not able to see the Major immediately as she entered. That did not stop him from speaking to her right away, though.

"You know, Hahnenfuss, if you wanted my attention, then you could have just asked," he snapped irritably. "What's the meaning of this?"

When the usually quick witted female took too long to reply, Yzak finally stood up to glower properly at her, fully intending to have his answers right away. "Are you hard of hearing today or what-"

A pair of wide, terrified brown eyes stared back at him, and after a split millisecond's pause of surprise, Yzak's frown deepened. "You are not Hahnenfuss," he stated rather flatly and redundantly, looking at the young Red Coat soldier whom he had never met before. "Who the hell are you?"

The boy, most likely a graduate fresh from the ZAFT military academy, hurriedly executed a salute to his commanding officer. "Commander Joule, sir! I'm Lieutenant Luca Carlier, newly transferred to the Joule Team, Identification Number three-two-two-six-"

Yzak impatiently waved off his subordinate's introduction. He had personally processed and approved of the young MS pilot's transfer a few weeks back, it was just that he hadn't met the latter officially yet until now. "At ease, soldier. I recall who you are now. What do you want?"

The copper-haired boy looked briefly confused before he saluted again. "Commander Joule, you asked to see Major Hahnenfuss. I'm her temporary replacement, Sir."

_That_ was something that he had not known.

"Temporary replacement?" he demanded sharply, the volume of his tone rising together with his displeasure. "What temporary replacement?"

The young lieutenant flinched and struggled to hold onto his composure. The man standing before him was completely _intimidating_, never mind that he should have looked less threatening surrounded on all sides by a sea of paper. The young Red Coat had heard all sorts of horror stories about his new superior, and it was beginning to seem that each and every one of them were true. "Major Hahnenfuss is on ELOA as of four days ago, Commander Joule. I have been assigned to take over her office duties in the meantime, Sir!"

She was on emergency leave of absence? Yzak's eyes narrowed. But most importantly…

"SO YOU ARE THE DUMBASS WHO LEFT THIS MESS ALL OVER MY DESK!" the White Coat bellowed without warning, finally finding the culprit who was giving him a headache this early in the morning. His startled subordinate eeped as he proceeded to chew him a new one, and his angered yelling was so loud that he could be heard all the way from the other end of the extensive office floor. That was a good thing, for Captain Elsman eventually strolled in to see what the racket was about and deftly rescued the traumatized young lieutenant from the demonic clutches of his commanding officer.

"And take all these with you and don't bring them back until they are properly sorted!" Yzak yelled after the frantically fleeing form of the young Red Coat, much to his best friend's look of amused exasperation.

"Hey, buddy, relax," Dearka commented at the red-faced Yzak. "Don't scare the poor kid off; we happen to be shorthanded right now, you know."

The silver-haired male looked like he wanted to reach over and throttle the tanned blonde then. "Don't you have anything better to do right now?" The Joule heir snapped irritably.

Dearka shrugged nonchalantly. "Just dropping in to see how you are coping without Shiho around to clean up after you." Glancing briefly at the sheer pandemonium in the room, the Black Coat winced theatrically, much to Yzak's twitch of aggravation. "Things not going so well, huh?"

"Where the hell did Hahnenfuss go, anyway?" the Commander burst out then. "And why was I not informed at all about her ELOA application?"

Dearka wandered over to his friend's desk and very unceremoniously started to flick through the latter's inbox on the computer without even asking for permission. "Geez, man, you really need to clear out your inbox." Tapping on one particular subject title that he was specifically looking for out of a lengthy list of others, the Captain of the _Rousseau_ opened the digital message and caught Yzak's attention with it. "You were informed by HR five days ago, my friend." And sure enough, there was the proof sitting there on the touch screen. "It's not Shiho's fault that you missed the memo."

"I'm her goddamn commanding officer! I think I should have a say on whether her leave is approved or not. We are going to be having a joint training exercise with ORB in a few weeks' time – she knew that! How can she just go off without a word?! That's completely irresponsible! I should have her demoted for this!"

Yzak was scowling ferociously as he sat back down and started angrily shuffling papers around, trying to sort them into some semblance of order but giving up quickly when there was clearly not enough space to even do that. "Stupid greenhorn," he muttered, frustrated. Dearka observed his friend, his brow raised at the Joule's visibly foul mood.

"If you just read the rest of the message, you will find that Major Hahnenfuss followed protocol to the very letter. Her code of conduct is exemplary, and she has never applied for leave before in all of her years of service to ZAFT until now. You have no case, Yzak." He paused, and then continued." Besides, she's only on office leave – she's on as usual whenever we go to Armory One and is still slated to be onboard the _Voltaire_ when we conduct the joint exercise with ORB."

"Great. So I have to handle the paperwork all on my own now." The Commander did not sound happy.

Dearka had to grin at that. "Well, you have Lieutenant Carlier to assist you."

Yzak just swore like a sailor, the expression on his face so sour that it could curdle milk.

"Come now," the blonde coaxed his extremely unamused friend. "He can't be that bad."

"CAN'T BE THAT BAD?!" Yzak exploded. "DO YOU MEAN, 'CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?!' LOOK AT MY DESK!"

The veritable gust of outrage nearly bowled the Black Coat over, but Dearka was too used to Yzak's fiery temper to even bat an eyelash over it.

"…To be perfectly honest, Yzak, Carlier's primary duty is just to deliver these documents to you and make sure that you receive them – nothing more. The sorting, color coding, all the other little things that Shiho does on your behalf are extra services, probably because she knows what a big wuss you are when it comes to this. Well, she won't be around for at least a while, so you might as well start getting used to doing this by yourself just like all the other Commanders do."

To say that Yzak was astonished by this little tidbit of information would be an understatement. His anger drained away to be replaced by surprise. "Wait a minute. Are you serious?" he demanded to know. "I thought all the others have access to this type of assistance as well."

"We wish," Dearka retorted dryly. "That subordinate of yours comes into the office early and finishes late all the time just to help you sort out your paperwork and filter your mail. That's not part of her job scope, if you will recall. She's only supposed to deal with the day to day administrative matters of the team - that's dedication, right there. Unfortunately for her though, she works for the ungrateful you, who yells at her all the time."

"I don't yell at her _all_ the time," Yzak muttered defensively. So that was why he had never seen those ludicrous messages in his inbox prior to today. She had been silently helping him hold onto his patience (and sanity) all the while.

Dearka quirked his brow. "_Sure_. Must be some pretty special sweet nothings that you are whispering in her ear then, since the entire floor can hear them loud and clear as well."

The silver-haired Commander sputtered, turning a dull shade of red. "Shut up, Dearka," he hissed at last. "We are not like that. Hahnenfuss and I share a perfectly professional relationship."

The golden-haired Coordinator refrained from rolling his eyes. "Yeah. I can tell."

And it was such a pity too, that his best friend was so completely dense and oblivious when it came to such matters, for Shiho had revealed very subtle signs of interest a few years back. That window of opportunity was probably already closed by now, unfortunately, since if the pretty Major still retained any semblance of romantic notions towards their Commander, then she was no longer showing it as far as Dearka could see. It really was too bad; those two would have been good for each other.

"Well, good luck sorting out all this then, Commander Joule," the Captain drawled with unholy cheerfulness. "I need to return to my work as well. Try not to get buried under the paperwork – holler if you are drowning."

"Elsman," Yzak growled, glowering at him at the same time. "Do you want to die?"

Chuckling, the blonde pushed off from the edge of the desk and prepared to exit the room. "Of course not. But, you know, I'm pretty surprised that you are taking this so well."

Yzak narrowed his eyes. "Why do you say that?" he demanded.

"You do realize that you will be on your own for the foreseeable future, right? Shiho's on indefinite leave of absence."

It was then, that the other shoe finally dropped.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, 'INDEFINITE LEAVE OF ABSENCE?!'"

* * *

_::tsuzuku::_

* * *

**Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:**

Hm, so yes, here is the second installment of TTOSH. There's no ShiZak interaction in this chapter – I was hoping to lay out a bit of foundation and build up some background story first before I really get started. Anyway, I hope some of you will enjoy this. =)

Just so you know, last chapter was something of a test chapter, to get me accustomed to writing the characters. This installment is technically the official start of TTOSH, but do treat the first chapter as a prelude to the storyline.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

As mentioned above, Shiho's background and family history are all speculation on my part. There's so little information about her and I could not help but fill in the blanks with my own overactive imagination, so don't be surprised if you find anything off or incompliant to the GS/GSD canon-verse.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

In this fic, Shiho is twenty two years old, and Yzak is twenty three.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

FYI, Matthias Leclercq and Lieutenant Luca Carlier are my OCs. Don't worry; they are just secondary characters whose sole purpose is to move the story along. They will not feature prominently in this fic, but do watch out for their cameo appearances every now and then.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

There's only so many ShiZak fics to go around in FF Net's archives, and out of those, I found that there were quite a few revolving around the theme of arranged marriages. So here's my take on it. In TTOSH, there are arranged marriages, but it's more of an 'omiai' matchmaking type of arrangement, as opposed to the more common 'throw two protesting and unhappy individuals together and force them to sign the marriage contract' variety that's prevalent in the fandom. In other words, a family can choose from a list of potential matches, and then, if both sides are agreeable, a meeting will be arranged for the prospective couple, and if all goes well, then courtship, engagement, marriage, etc. may commence.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

Thanks for reading!

**xXxXxXxXxX**

Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-paws


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** The Taming of Shiho Hahnenfuss

**Author: **paws_bells

**Beta-ed by:** MelissaRose85

**Characters/Pairing: **Shiho Hahnenfuss and Yzak Joule

**Type:** Continuous (InComplete)

**Genre:** Humor/Romance

**Word Count:** 6240

**Rating: **T (Contains content not suitable for children)

**Disclaimer:** Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny belongs to Morosawa Chiaki and Fukuda Mitsuo.

**Summary: **Post GSD. When good girls go bad, their bewildered commanders are suddenly left wondering what on earth is going on. One-shot series.

**Prompt**: vegetable garden

**Created on:** 29/06/13

**Completed on:** 02/07/13

**Chapter Last Revised on:** 23/07/13

* * *

**III. Eat Your Vegetables**

* * *

It was a wet and miserable Sunday morning in Aprilius One. The artificial weather network used by the entirety of PLANT ensured that the local seasons and temperature were well regulated and stable, closely mimicking the meteorological conditions down on Earth in order to maintain the manmade ecology that helped in sustaining the colonies' atmosphere. Rain was needed to periodically water the assorted flora that grew on the entirety of Aprilius and so, right on schedule, the automated climatic system precipitated a heavy downfall over the entire City.

As such, Shiho decided that it was the perfect day to go out and get herself some sun and fresh air.

It had been a fortnight since she had had her revelation – a fortnight since she had applied for and successfully been granted her leave from the ZAFT Headquarters, and life was…_good_. _Very_ good. Shiho had never had so much free time on her hands before in her entire life, and even though it had all felt very strange to her at first, she had quickly gotten over her initial disorientation and was starting to enjoy herself. For once, there was no tight schedule to keep, no need to keep track of the time, no responsibility to handle, nothing to be in charge of.

Stress free. Tranquil. Peaceful.

Shiho loved it.

Her newfound freedom was intoxicating – she had no one to answer to and was free to do whatever she wished. The lack of accountability was something new, but it did not mean that she had been content to spend her time lazing around the house for the last couple of weeks. No, the absence of official work was quickly replaced by a rash of little projects that the brunette had eagerly embarked on the moment her office leave was approved, and today, she would be diving right back into one of her favorite assignments on her To-Do List that she had started earlier when beginning her break.

Dressed in a loose checkered blouse with a small neck scarf and a pair of belted khaki shorts, Shiho grabbed her bag and was about to exit her apartment when the intercom in her foyer chimed softly. CAS, the in-house Concierge and Security bot of her building materialized by the door in the holographic, three dimensional form of a dignified-looking female butler, one of ten different avatars customizable by the residents living on the property.

"Good morning, Miss Hahnenfuss," the system greeted her in a musical, digitally synthesized voice. "You have a guest requesting to speak to you at the ground floor lobby."

"Good morning, CAS," Shiho politely returned the bot's greeting. "A guest? Who is it?"

She was slightly surprised to hear that she had a visitor. Even though she spent a fair amount of her time in Aprilius One, most her acquaintances were from the military like herself and she had also not made her place of residence very widely known to that small circle of individuals, being a rather private person who was intensely defensive of her personal sanctuary. It also couldn't be her parents; they had visited just last week when her mother had to drop by Aprilius One for a weekend symposium. So who could it be?

"It is Commander Yzak Joule of ZAFT, Miss Hahnenfuss," CAS replied neutrally. "Shall I invite him up?"

Shiho was mildly startled by the identity of her visitor but her momentary disconcertment quickly cleared. Of course it would be the Commander, she thought. He had been particularly insistent in the multiple messages he left her throughout last week, and since she had not been moved by any of them, it shouldn't be all that surprising that he was finally appearing in person to speak to her.

"No, CAS. Please tell Commander Joule that I will be down shortly."

"Very well, Miss Hahnenfuss." With a polite bow, the holographic image disappeared soundlessly, leaving Shiho alone in the foyer once more. The brunette walked to the entryway and opened her shoe cabinet, picking out the pair of bright orange rain boots that she had bought recently and quickly slipping them on. They were comfortable to wear and looked nice and cheerful, and Shiho was pleased with her purchase. Exiting her apartment and arming the security system, she took the elevator down and stepped out into the lobby, and sure enough, standing before the windows and scowling at the wet weather outside was her commanding officer.

He turned to her just as she approached him, and the frown on his face was nearly enough to wilt flowers. If he was surprised by her casual appearance – so much unlike her usual formally groomed and attired self, he gave no indication of it.

"Major Hahnenfuss," he acknowledged shortly, and habit ensured that she snapped out a quick salute in response, even though she was in civilian gear – and off duty.

"Commander Joule," she greeted seriously, studying him briefly as she did so. Thanks to the massive rain clouds covering all of Aprilius City, he had on a great coat – she would not be surprised if he was also wearing a suit under it, and had probably headed here straight from the ZAFT Headquarters. The man was a notorious workaholic, after all, and besides, there was never a lack of paperwork to deal with in the office. "How can I help you?"

Yzak refrained from the urge to glare death at his horrible subordinate, who happened to look fresh as a daisy at that moment and just as innocent as she stood there and politely pretended that she had not singlehandedly made him suffer through utter hell the last couple of weeks. The woman appeared so tranquil and relaxed that he wanted to snap at her just to get her to quit looking so damned _peaceful _– especially since he was feeling very crappy and tired and sour at the moment and all the accumulated stress from the previous fortnight was turning his temper dangerously short – even more than it already was, at any rate.

"Have your read any of my messages in the past week, Hahnenfuss?" he growled.

She cocked her head slightly as she looked at him with her violet eyes, and then she nodded. "Yes, I did. I read them all."

"And?" he demanded.

"I believe that I have already replied to each and every one of your messages, Commander. I respectfully decline your requests," she answered promptly.

He scowled.

"They are not requests, Major!" he barked. "I'm _ordering_ you to come back with me right now and resume your post!"

Shiho was too used to getting yelled at by this silver-haired man to be intimidated. She just blinked. "With all due respect, Sir, I'm still on official leave."

He looked very aggravated, not about to be deterred by something as simple as plain reasoning. "Do you know how crazy the entire office is right now, Hahnenfuss? The backlog of paperwork is starting to become overwhelming, the correspondence with the other ZAFT Teams and departments has accumulated to such a degree that we are actually in danger of crashing the server, and nobody seems to know what the hell they are doing. Your replacement, in particular, is about as useful as a glass hammer – I demand that you take responsibility for this entire mess!"

"I'm sure Lieutenant Carlier is more than capable of taking over my duty," the brunette replied placidly at last, subtly glancing at her watch as she did so. She was going to miss her transport if she did not start moving now. There was a small twinge of remorse at her superior's very blatant attempt at guilt tripping her, but since he had been saying pretty much the same thing in his mail to her for the past week, she was able to brush it off – there was just no way that she was as indispensible as he was making her out to be. "Give him a little more time, Commander – he will learn soon enough."

The Joule heir was unconvinced, not that he could be blamed. That particular young Red Coat was still so terrified of him that the boy couldn't even look him in the eye, which made for terrible communication and even more messes and misunderstandings. It was appalling – his usually well-ordered and highly organized office now resembled a henhouse more than a military administration, and that damn Dearka had done nothing but laugh at him when he complained about it. Yzak would never have guessed just how important a role the seemingly nondescript Major played in his office, and left with no choice, he was prepared to do whatever it took to get her back to managing things for him again.

"If that is all, please excuse me, Commander, I have an urgent appointment. I apologize for not being able to assist in your situation at this time," the brunette murmured then, stepping around him deftly and heading straight for the main doors. He gawked at her retreating form briefly in disbelief before it occurred to him that she was bailing on him, and since he was not going to budge from this issue until he had his way, the silver-haired male swore under his breath and charged after the unreasonable woman. Had Hahnenfuss always been so exasperatingly unimpressionable and mulishly stubborn?

He ducked out of the building just in time to see the brunette disappearing into a waiting taxi. Oh no, she don't, he thought grimly as he strode after her, and before she could close the car door, he muscled his way in unceremoniously, forcing her to scoot further into the back of the vehicle to accommodate his larger form and then pulling the door shut behind him to keep out the rain.

"Commander Joule!" she quickly protested in surprise. "This is not appropriate-!"

"I don't give a damn," he muttered, and the cab started to move, presumably towards whichever destination Hahnenfuss had already requested of the driver. That was of no concern to him; he could always return to her apartment to pick up his car after he had this pressing issue settled. Turning to the momentarily unsettled female, he narrowed his eyes at her.

"What will it take to get you to come back to work?" he asked bluntly. "Monetary raise? A promotion? Tell me what you want and we can negotiate."

A small frown creased on her brow. "I don't need any of that," she told him quietly and sincerely at last. Looking at him with her pristine amethyst gaze, she continued with matter of fact candor. "You cannot give me what I want, Sir."

She was being completely honest with him, and that shut him up quicker than any other thing that she could have said. There was a long pause as he eyed her meditatively, _calculatingly_, as if trying to figure her out, but she was completely transparent, and it took him very little time to realize that he was not going to get anywhere with her if he continued to aim for this angle.

"Then what _exactly_ do you want, Hahnenfuss?"

She turned her head to face him, her features schooled and unreadable. In the end, she just shrugged, a slight, surprisingly dainty lift of her shoulder.

"I don't know," she admitted quietly, solemnly. "I'm still looking for it."

He was momentarily dumbfounded by her nonchalant reply. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

"Still looking for it?" he parroted in disbelief. "You mean you have no idea what you want?"

She looked at him with her usual placid expression. "I believe that was what I just said, _Sir_," she replied in such an even tone that it actually took him awhile to realize that she was being smart with him.

His brows snapped together in the beginning of a truly ferocious frown, but before he could say anything about her cheek – on leave or not, she was still his subordinate, dammit – they had arrived at their destination.

The brunette started to reached for her purse to pay for the cab fare, but before she could do so, her White Coat superior impatiently shoved his credit card at the driver for the man to swipe, and it wasn't long before the vehicle was on its way again, leaving the two standing under the sheltered overhead of the huge building that was Shiho's original destination.

"I will pay you back," Shiho offered to the silver-haired man, but Yzak just stared sharply at the landmark before them.

"Why are we at the Hub Terminal?" he asked abruptly instead, ignoring her previous statement.

The Commander was obviously going to be as difficult about this as only he could be. Shiho was only too glad that she was going to be free of his disagreeable persona very soon. She started to head into the building, and he fell in beside her.

"I'm not sure why you are here, Commander," she replied with perfect sense and composure after a while. "But I'm heading up to the external docks."

Yzak twitched. She was _definitely_ sassing him, he could tell. "External docks?" he repeated, mica blue eyes narrowing as he stared at her for an answer. "Wait; you are _leaving_ Aprilius One?"

She looked at him mildly. "That would be the general idea, Sir."

He was getting really tired of her subtle needling. "Listen here, Hahnenfuss-"

"Commander Joule," she interrupted softly but firmly. "Thank you for the escort, but I'm going to be late for my shuttle. I'm sure that anything else can wait until I come back." They were already at the elevator lobby, where the high speed contraption would carry her straight up to the docking areas of the civilian shuttles. Flashing her PLANT citizen card against the scanner immediately activated the automated barriers that guarded the access to the sleek, steel-lined lifts, and she stepped over to the other side deftly before the gantries hissed shut once more.

Yzak was not about to just stand there and let his subordinate jet off to god knew where while he was left holding the proverbial bag. The proverbial paperwork-filled bag, to be precise. Who knew where she was heading to or when she would be back if he let her slip off now. The Major did not look like she was leaving for an extended trip, but he would rather take no chances. Just the mere recollection of the horrors waiting for him back in the office quickly had him ready to continue this battle of attrition once more. If Hahnenfuss thought that she was being stubborn, then he would be even more so – if she really believed that he wasn't above pestering her until she gave in, then she was going to be in for a big surprise.

Slamming his own ZAFT military pass against the detection sensor, he followed her through to the restricted side of the lobby as well, the high profile nature of his impressive military rank immediately granting him entry to places where it would take most civilians days to gain access rights. Of course, it also meant that the entire Hub was now aware that a ZAFT Commander had just entered the building, and Shiho resisted the urge to sigh as she frowned slightly at the man now standing beside her.

"Is this really necessary?" she asked.

He glowered at her. "I don't know," he snarked back sarcastically. "Was it really necessary for you to desert your post and leave your entire Team in a lurch?"

She looked at him with her steady violet eyes, her expression betraying no reaction towards his irritable statement. "Commander Joule, for the very last time, _I'm on official leave_. I'm not obligated to return to the office until I'm good and ready to do so."

They stepped into the elevator as it opened with a soft 'ding,' and before long, they were swiftly heading towards the Hub. "Well, I'm revoking your leave," the White Coat retorted. "You are to come back to work next Tuesday. Actually, I'd prefer it if you start tomorrow, or, even better, right now."

The brunette was starting to lose her patience with the obstinate Joule. "You do not have the authority to revoke my leave, Sir. I won't be going back unless there is an emergency."

"And I'm telling you that we are facing a huge emergency in the office right now!" he hissed, looking very disgruntled at the reminder of the utter mayhem that was still running around uncontained and probably multiplying in the ZAFT Headquarters even as he spoke.

She gave him a flat look. "I was referring to emergencies on a national scale."

"Two can play this game, Major Hahnenfuss," the White Coat retorted, ignoring her remark. "If you refuse to comply, then I see no other choice but to change your mind myself, in any way possible."

Something akin to dismay fleeted across her delicate features then, and he was innately pleased to have finally rattled her composure. She schooled herself all too soon, though, and just eyed him warily.

"Do as you wish, Commander," she responded calmly then, and quickly stepped out of the lift the moment they reached their floor.

It was a good thing that she had, and, unlike him, was so informally dressed that she was completely overlooked as the nervous group of Hub management personnel came up and tried to figure out what a ZAFT Commander was doing in the civilian area of the docking station on an abrupt, unannounced visit. They swarmed the silver-haired male immediately, and since it was nobody's fault but his own for bulling his way through with his military privilege, Shiho did not feel particularly obligated to stay behind and help him sort out this mess. In fact, it was an excellent opportunity for her to slip away while he was busy clearing up the misunderstanding (and somehow terrifying the poor staff with his curt mannerisms and short temper while he was at it), and the brunette quickly found her way into her shuttle with nobody the wiser.

Half an hour later, she had settled down in her seat with the day's newspaper and a nice cup of coffee served by the helpful attendant, waiting for takeoff, when her commanding officer stalked up the aisle towards her. He stopped by her seat and glowered down at her. She lifted her eyes from the headlines she was studiously perusing to look blandly at him. The White Coat was not amused by the air of angelic nonchalance that she was effortlessly portraying.

He had not expected to have to soothe the ruffled feathers of an anxious gaggle of Hub ground service personnel due to the usage of his ZAFT digital authorization to bypass the security parameters of the civilian docking area. All air and space crews were trained to be extremely sensitive to the slightest possible terrorist threat within their domains, and the sudden presence of a high ranking military officer in civilian air/space grounds was pretty much up as high up there as was possible in terms of unusual occurrence. It was only after he had convinced management that he was not on official business did he finally notice the conspicuous absence of his subordinate. It had taken a bit of browbeating before someone eventually pointed him to the shuttle that his 'lady companion' had boarded, and indignant by her rude abandonment, he wasted no time chasing down the errant female – she probably knew what sort of mayhem his appearance would cause here, and hadn't even had the decency to remind him about it, the awful woman.

"You could have at least waited for me," he growled accusingly.

She blinked up at him with clear amethyst eyes, seemingly surprised by his appearance. "I'm afraid I do not understand your insistent presence, Commander," she stated with pointed politeness at last. "Don't you have other pressing matters to attend to?"

In other words, she was telling him to sod off.

His glower deepened. "I do, actually," he snapped. "Unfortunately, I'm forced to take time off to address an issue with a particularly difficult subordinate."

He was being just as sharp as her, but she remained undaunted, as he knew she would be. He didn't understand why that steady, unshakable mettle of hers never failed to annoy him _and_ earn his respect at the same time.

"Move over," he ordered then, and she looked at him with mild incredulity, quickly realizing what he meant to do.

"You cannot be serious," she uttered in disbelief.

"Oh, you can rest assured that I'm being very serious," he retorted. He started to unbutton his greatcoat and shrug off the heavy material, revealing that he was indeed wearing a business suit underneath it. Stuffing the outerwear in the overhead compartment, he once again muscled her over to the adjoining seat and took the one he had made her vacate. She frowned at him.

"This is a civilian shuttle – you can't be in here without a boarding pass," Shiho reminded him.

Yzak turned to her. "I'm Commander Yzak Joule of ZAFT, famous decorated war hero. The pilots are only too happy to accept my offer to personally escort this vessel to its intended destination, free of charge."

Of course, it went without saying that he would board for free as well in order to be able to escort this shuttle anywhere.

Shiho shot the silver-haired male a significantly dirty look.

"Commander Joule," she relented at last, giving up. He could do whatever he wanted; she had never claimed to understand his motivations in the first place. "I do not know why you are doing this, but I'm warning you – this will surely not end well."

He was not impressed with her threat. "I'm not going anywhere until you are ready to come back and deal with the paperwork; it's as simple as that. Let's see what you have to do that's so important you are refusing to come back where you are needed."

Settling down in his seat, he proceeded to pluck the newspaper from her hand and also promptly stole her coffee, much to her growing consternation and annoyance. She watched as he took a long draw out of the hot, steaming brew, too polite (and flabbergasted) to tell him to go and get his own.

"By the way, where are we going?"

* * *

Two hours later, Yzak was incredibly unamused to find himself in the rural countryside of Junius Five, standing in the middle of literally nowhere, surrounded on all sides by huge tracts of farmland for as far as the eye could see.

Unlike the ferocious thunderstorms pouring down on Aprilius One, the weather of the Junius colony was currently bright and sunny, the very antithesis of his darkening mood at that moment.

It was all Hahnenfuss' fault.

He still had trouble understanding her reason for their being here. Granted, he had insisted on tagging along – and she _had_ warned him – but this was just beyond his comprehension.

The woman in question was completely oblivious to his incredulity as she continued to speak with an old woman standing in front of the only building that could be seen for miles – a squat, rustic looking farmhouse with an accompanying stable, barn, henhouse, the whole shebang, really. Hahnenfuss seemed to be familiar with elderly female, and after exchanging a few more words, the latter retreated into what was presumably her home, leaving the door open in invitation for her visitors to enter should they wish to.

Shiho turned reluctantly to her commanding officer then, who currently stuck out like a sore thumb with his business suit and was probably feeling just as uncomfortable as he looked. The formal attire was hardly suitable for the warm and humid climate of Junius City, the PLANT colony well known for its agricultural sciences, and the brunette felt a little sorry for her commanding officer as he baked under the sweltering heat.

"Commander Joule," she called out then. "Ms. Fitzsimmons has agreed to let you into her house for today. You may stay in the kitchens if the temperature outside is too warm for you."

As for herself, she simply removed her neck scarf and used the silk cloth like a bandana to tie up her long, chocolate brown hair, keeping the well-tended, luxurious mane out of the way with quick, deft motions. Without waiting for her self-appointed silver-haired shadow, she started to walk up the steps and into the sheltered porch of the farmhouse, digging into her duffel bag for her sunscreen lotion next. Sitting on a wooden bench lined against the wall, she flicked open the bottle that she had pulled out from amongst her belongings and wasted no time squirting a generous amount of sunscreen onto her hands, distributing the mess between her palms before she started to apply it evenly over her arms, face and neck.

"What are you doing?"

The shadow that fell over her, combined with that sharp, disgruntled tone, had her opening her eyes to stare steadily into the displeased blue ones of a certain Yzak Joule. She did not even pause as she reached for her bottle once more, squeezing out another liberal portion of the sunblock, this time kicking off her footwear and propping up a long, slender leg on the bench as she proceeded to slather the viscous cream all over her exposed skin.

His irritated gaze tracked her movements automatically, watching with idle attention as she efficiently blended the sunscreen into her pale skin with smooth, rhythmic motions, her hands rubbing against her thigh, knee, calf, and then ankle and foot.

"I'm trying to prevent myself from getting a sunburn, Commander," she told him matter-of-factly before she repeated her actions with her other limb.

He finally raised his eyes from her legs to meet her gaze, and he scowled.

"That's not what I meant," he retorted. "What are we doing _here_?"

Because he still had difficulty accepting what she had told him when they alighted from their ground transport, and needed a reconfirmation from her to make sure that he wasn't hearing things wrongly.

Shiho sighed inwardly. This was going to be one of those days, she could tell already. "Again, I have no idea why you are here, but I'm here to learn how to take care of my vegetable garden."

Yes. He had not heard wrongly after all.

_Vegetable garden. _

He twitched, or rather, his face performed this indescribable muscle spasm that was usually a prelude to his loss of composure and/or temper.

"Hahnenfuss," he enunciated with extreme, _frightening_, calm then. His blazing eyes were narrowed into dangerous slits as he stared down at her. "Are you trying to tell me that you have been neglecting your duties to the Team _just so that you could come here to plant turnips_?!"

He was yelling towards the end, but like always, she did not seem to be fazed by him. "If it's any consolation to you," she replied sedately at last, eyeing him with her usual neutral reserve. "I'm planting onions and cabbages as well."

If Dearka was there at the moment, the blonde would be laughing himself sick over this unbelievably absurd situation. Yzak was so angry that he could not find the proper words to translate his ire, and what made it even more unbearable was how utterly _calm_ the brunette was right now. His pale face was flushed with agitation but she was as tranquil as she usually was, looking at him with mild curiosity, as if she did not quite understand what had set him off again this time.

"Major Shiho Hahnenfuss," he bit out at last. "You are a Red Coat elite of the Joule Team. Do you care to explain your conduct?"

Shiho slipped the bottle of lotion back into her bag and then she slowly stood up. Still watching her commanding officer, she shook her head once. Firmly. "I'm on _leave_, Commander Joule," she stressed quietly. "I'm not doing anything illegal or detrimental to the reputation or agendas of ZAFT and therefore I do not see the need to explain myself."

"Not detrimental to ZAFT?" he echoed incredulously. "Your lack of presence in the Headquarters – my division, in particular – is a major problem, and you say you are not doing anything detrimental?! You are a scion of the Noble House of Hahnenfuss, a ZAFT military officer of high ranking, a Coordinator with superior mental and physical abilities, and you decide to waste your time and considerable talents digging around in a dirt patch?"

She stiffened slightly but did not wither under his scathing words. If anything, a steely glint entered her usually placid violet eyes, and she jutted out her chin slightly in defiance.

"Does a scion of the Noble House not require sustenance? Does a ZAFT officer not need to eat? Is a Coordinator not human?" she questioned coolly. "I have spent most of my life learning all the ways and methods to kill; how to take as many lives as swiftly and as efficiently as possible. What's wrong with wanting to learn how to nurture life instead? This is _not_ a waste of time to me, and with all due respect, it's none of your business what I do outside of ZAFT, Commander Joule."

She had not raised her voice an octave in the entirety of her sharp rebuke, but her displeasure was obvious in the proud tilt of her head and the regal look in her steady gaze – pure amethyst fire burning behind a thick coat of ice. Despite his accusation of her inappropriate behavior, she had defended herself with the pride and aplomb worthy of her aristocratic upbringing, and to say that Yzak was surprised by this part of her would be an understatement – mostly because he had never found himself on the receiving end of her ire before – and her quiet, passionate ferocity was quite something to behold.

So, she has her trigger, too.

Before he could muster a proper response, a slight cough sounded behind him. They both turned to see the elderly woman from before, standing under the arch of her doorway.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation," the old lady remarked. That was no big surprise there, since Yzak seemed physically incapable of speaking softly like a normal person.

Shiho's cool, arctic gaze immediately softened. She went up to stand beside the suddenly speechless Joule and bowed cordially towards their host. "I apologize for my companion's rudeness, Ms. Fitzsimmons," she spoke with polite composure, seemingly as serene as a quiet spring day all of a sudden. "Commander Joule must have momentarily displaced his mental faculties when he opened his mouth just now."

Yzak immediately snapped his head around to stare at his subordinate, his eyes narrowing. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then she shot him an unexpectedly fierce frown that had him subsiding in astonishment once again.

Shelby Fitzsimmons studied the pair standing before her. They both looked quite irked with the other; the silver-haired male all but scowling like a cantankerous bear, whereas his brunette counterpart looked outwardly calm and blank faced, but was surrounded by a mildly agitated energy that suggested otherwise.

"Commander Joule should be making his way back to the Hub Terminal now; he has a shuttle to Aprilius One to catch," the violet-eyed woman continued with deceptive neutrality, still ignoring her commanding officer.

Yzak was not about to be ordered around like that, though. "Wait a minute here, Hahnenfuss-"

"There's no need for that," Shelby interrupted then, eyeing the two with inward amusement. "Young couples should not fight over every little thing, you know; you both still have a long road ahead of you."

That immediately evoked a reaction. The two looked incredulously at each other, then quickly wasted no time spitting out their denials.

"We are not-"

"She's not-"

"Miss Hahnenfuss, your Commander may stay," the Junius Five native spoke firmly over the clamor of the two agitated voices. The old woman looked sternly at the tall male standing before her then. High ranking military officer or not, the lad was still lesser in age than even her youngest grandchild, and therefore she would treat him as such. "Since he has so clearly stated his opinion on the subject of agriculture, I think he'll stand to learn quite a bit from this experience as well, don't you think so, Commander?"

The silver-haired man did not look like he was inclined to agree, but the good manners that his mother had literally nagged into him kept his tongue still. It was one thing to yell at his subordinates, but a different story altogether when it came to the treatment of elderly women who looked frail enough to be bowled over by a good gust of wind. Besides, he had technically insulted the old lady's way of life with his blunt, unthinking words earlier; obviously some form of recompense was in order.

Hahnenfuss did not seem to want him around though, and so she made another attempt get him off of Junius Five. "Ms. Fitzsimmons, your offer is very much appreciated, but I'm afraid that Commander Joule is an _extremely _busy man," she emphasized faintly. "He has a lot of paperwork waiting for his approval back in the ZAFT Headquarters, and cannot possibly be touring the farm at this time since he is a very important figure."

By now, Yzak was subtly glaring bloody murder at the pokerfaced Major. The blatant reminder of the hell waiting for him back in the office was a really low blow, and, even though she had articulated her observation in her usual even civil tone, he was quite certain that she had also just made a jab or two at him as well.

"Besides," Shiho continued to calmly reason. "He's neither attired properly nor prepared for such physically demanding chores."

That was _it_. She was indeed goading him in her typical bland, exasperatingly subtle way.

Shelby did not even have to do anything but watch as the amusing drama played out before her eyes. The young man now looked fit to be tied even as his partner's gleaming amethyst eyes showed unusual life and vivacity as she stared him down with deliberate calm. This was not the same quiet and self-collected young lady who had approached her to learn how to garden a week ago – extremely thoughtful, quietly unobtrusive, and, above all, muted, dampened, _dulled_ – no, this child was _so_ much more right now – _brighter_ – and it seemed that it was her companion who had brought that special quality out of her.

How interesting.

"Is that true, Commander Joule?" Shelby asked then, careful to keep her amusement from leaking into her tone. The fair-haired male seemed like the type to easily take offense to such gestures. "My, I'm surprised; surely a strapping young lad such as yourself would have little trouble caring for a tiny garden."

Yzak had indeed changed his mind. Scowling ferociously at the pokerfaced Hahnenfuss who had just vaguely implied that he was nothing more than a soft little ninny who was too used to sitting up in his plush office (he might have read a bit too deeply into her words), Joule growled, his pride stung. "The hot weather must be making Major Hahnenfuss delusional," he muttered darkly. "I will be glad to be of service today, Ma'am."

Ignoring the brunette who was now staring at him in slight surprise, he unbuttoned and shrugged out of his immaculate, tailored jacket and loosened his tie with several short tugs, pulling the expensive silk fabric over his head and easing open the collar of his shirt at the same time. Dropping the blazer jacket and the tie on the bench, he also undid his cufflinks with deft grace, and then rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. There was nothing he could do about the dress pants and the expensive, hand stitched leather shoes, but still, it was the most informal she had seen the Commander for quite some time.

Shiho stared. "Are you really going to do this?" she asked skeptically at last. He glowered at her.

"Wasn't this your design?" he snapped. "To provoke me into doing this?"

She looked at him as if she thought him not quite right in the head. "No, Sir. I was actually trying to convince you to get off of Junius Five," she replied shortly, honestly, not that he was impressed.

"That's too bad. I have already told you; I'm not leaving until you are ready to return with me."

Shiho was very tempted to do something drastic then. Like…like _yell_ at him, or something. There was a growing frown on her face, and she could feel her earlier inner quietude and tranquility starting to slip away. At last, she just gave up. It was no skin off of her nose if this was what he wanted. In fact, Shiho didn't even think that her commanding officer was aware of just what he had signed himself up for.

"I hope you won't come to regret this, Commander," she commented in the end, and he just looked arrogantly exasperated.

"Please. It's just a tiny little vegetable garden. How hard can this be?"

The brunette exchanged glances with her mentor. Shelby looked incredibly amused.

"Well, then! In that case, let's get started right away, shall we?"

* * *

**Omake**

The next day, Dearka strolled into the in-house cafeteria of the ZAFT Headquarters during noon and immediately found his best friend. It was a really simple matter to accomplish – all he had to do was look for the one and only people-free zone amongst the crush of military uniforms trying to have their lunch. After securing his tray of food and paying for it, the tanned blonde effortlessly cut his way through the deluge of humanity and cruised fearlessly into no man's land, sauntering over to the table that was occupied by an irritable as usual Yzak Joule and placing his meal on the setting opposite that of the silver-haired man's.

"Hey, buddy," the Captain greeted amiably as he took his seat. Yzak grunted an incoherent reply. Shrugging inwardly to himself, Dearka spread the dining napkin on his lap and lifted the tray cover to survey the contents of his lunch. It was medium rare rib eye steak with a side of roast potatoes, served with the soup of the day and a bowl of freshly tossed salad for appetizer. Yum. He immediately started in on his meal, slicing off a piece of the prime beef with his steak knife and popping the tender meat into his mouth. Delicious. Meals on land were always the best, as compared to the barely edible but highly nutritious slop that they had to put up with in space.

It took a few more bites of food before Dearka dulled the edge of his gnawing hunger, and then he turned his attention back to his friend. Grinning slightly at the Joule heir's sour expression, he quipped. "So, how was it? Did you manage to convince Shiho to come back?"

If anything, the mention of the Major made Yzak's scowl darken further. How curious.

"That woman is a witch," the Commander blurted out disgruntledly after a long pause. "I don't even know what I was thinking to want her back."

Dearka raised a brow at that. "If you need a reminder why, Yzak, then I suggest you take a quick look at the utter mess in your office. Also, I think your paperwork is breeding, by the way."

"I know that!" Yzak hissed. "And she knows it too! She's holding all the aces here – that's why she's not budging at all!"

Sensing an interesting tale behind his friend's frustration, Dearka asked. "What exactly happened yesterday?"

And then the entire story reluctantly spilled out, from how Yzak had tracked Shiho down in her apartment, to how he had obstinately followed her all the way to Junius Five, and, last but not least, how he had somehow ended up tilling a garden half the size of a football field like some common beast of burden, and in his favorite designer suit too (which was eventually ruined by the experience), no less.

The Captain of the _Rousseau_ could not help himself, he burst into laughter. Yzak glared balefully at his friend. "It wasn't funny at all, damn it," he snapped. "I suffered from a nasty case of sunburn and also had to see a doctor for a strained bicep. And my whole body is sore from the physical labor – this is actually worse than the intensive training that we went through back in the military academy."

Snorting with overt amusement, Dearka shook his head and answered. "How the heck did that happen? And I'm actually surprised that you went through with it. You could have just said 'no,' you know. To hell with it, and all that."

Yzak twitched. "Can't," he mumbled. "There was this old lady farmer whom I might have accidentally shot my mouth off at, and I assured her that the whole thing would be a piece of cake."

And of course, in order to save his pride, he had no choice but to put his money where his mouth was, and had spent the rest of the day helping out the women, in the process gaining a new form of respect and appreciation for the food that others had toiled so hard just to put on his plate. Shelby Fitzsimmons' patient and informative lecture as they progressed onto various tasks in the large garden was also extremely enlightening and instructional, to say the least, and now, Yzak knew more about the cultivation of potatoes then he ever needed to, amongst other things.

Still, the experience wasn't entirely a waste of time even as he had grumbled about it; there was something unexpectedly relaxing in performing the hard physical labor – no need to think of anything as he simply repeated the motions, exerting himself and getting work done. It felt strangely good, cathartic even, just grabbing a hoe and wreaking havoc through the garden, and even though his body was now complaining as a result of the unusual workout – he was aching in places where he didn't even knew he had muscles – he also felt more clearheaded, calmer and less frustrated after yesterday's session.

So, all in all, he felt like he had actually gained more than he had lost, and he only had Hahnenfuss to thank for it. That didn't really sit well with him, since he still had a beef with the woman to settle and wasn't in the mood to be feeling amiable towards her, especially since last afternoon's experience had granted him new insight on his subordinate as well. It was an observation that was unnecessary to his objective to get her back in the office, but impossible to ignore when she had been working beside him the day before. She had largely kept to herself as she fulfilled the tasks assigned to her, looking completely tranquil and at ease despite the heat and humidity of Junius Five, a peaceful, contented expression on her face as she tended to the young shoots the next row over, her feet bare as she moved around without her shoes, the tiniest smile lingering on her mouth.

It was the most relaxed that he had seen her in all the years that he knew her; she looked _softer_, if that was the correct word to describe her, nothing like the highly experienced and hardened, especially efficient soldier that he knew she was. It was disconcerting to witness this gentler side of her – the side that he did not know – and his surprise effectively checked his temper since he was not entirely sure how to deal with this Hahnenfuss now.

Dearka chuckled, shaking his head slightly. "Man, I just can't imagine you tilling the fields like some farmer," the tanned blonde had to pause to mask another laugh behind a cough as his mind tried to picture the ludicrous image. "Did Shiho take a photo?"

Yzak scowled. "Why would she do that? She was the one who wanted to learn how to cultivate a damn garden in the first place." Not to mention, she had been so focused on her lessons that he suspected she had promptly forgotten about his presence ten minutes in. Yzak still did not know what to make of her absent dismissal of him – though he was slowly leaning towards disgruntlement and outrage.

"Huh," the Black Coat Captain commented with interest, absently poking at his salad with his fork as he did so. Yzak eyed his friend narrowly as the former continued to play with his food. "She's acting pretty strange, don't you think? I wonder what's going on with her."

"Yeah? Tell me if you find something, because she's making absolutely no sense to me," the silver-haired Commander muttered. He was also starting to scowl again as he watched Dearka continue to push his vegetables about in their bowl.

"So, I gather that yesterday was a failure, then?" the golden-haired man commented, his brow furrowing slightly when he eventually noticed Yzak's attention on his food. "…And why do you keep staring at my salad? Do you want it?"

"_No_," the Joule sounded incredulous and annoyed at the same time. "Just eat the damn thing and stop messing around with it. It's distracting me."

The Elsman heir gave the annoyed Commander a weird look. "Did you hit your head or something, Yzak?" he questioned slowly at last. "Since when did you start caring about how I eat my food?"

"Since today," Yzak retorted. "And you better finish all of it."

Now Dearka was definitely staring at his friend in concern. "Are you alright there, buddy?"

"Yes!" he growled, immeasurably irritated. "Just don't waste the food!" And speaking of which…

Standing up abruptly, Yzak brought his fingers to his mouth and whistled. Sharply. The high and loud piercing sound immediately caught the attention of all the occupants in the busy cafeteria, and conversations paused as heads immediately turned to look at the Commander.

"Listen up!" Yzak barked abruptly. "If I catch any of you maggots throwing food away from today on, you will be put on indefinite garbage disposal duty regardless of rank or position, is that clear?"

There was a shocked pause as the various ZAFT soldiers and civilian staff stared at him (and his sudden, unexpected command), and then their trained reflexes kicked in – a Commander's order was absolute – and a ready chorus of agreements sounded in the massive dining hall, accompanied by the loud approval of the galley crew in the back kitchens.

"Good. That's all." Yzak dismissed the men and sat back down again only to find his best friend eyeing him like he was some sort of alien life form that the latter had never come across before. "What?" he snapped.

Dearka started to grin as realization occurred to him. "You got dragged into her pace, didn't you?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. And eat your damn salad."

* * *

_::tsuzuku::_

* * *

**Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:**

Yes, one of Shiho's To-Do items is to learn how to take care of a vegetable garden, and this was what happened when Yzak decided to tagalong.

Moral of the story: food is a precious resource, and until you personally experience how much work other people put in for your meal, you tend to underappreciate its value. Food is not easy to grow, guys, so don't waste, okay? We are facing a global food shortage as it is.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

I think some of you can roughly guess the format of this fic by now. Each chapter will focus on one wish of Shiho's, that of course somehow involves Yzak as well. Since this is technically a loosely connected one-shot series, it might be a bit choppy in transition from one chapter to the next, but I think it shouldn't be a problem.

FYI, I got most of the prompts from a few bucket list blogs on tumblr. Interesting to read other people's wishes and wants, and good for writing inspiration too, I think?

**xXxXxXxXxX**

Also, Shelby Fitzsimmons is my OC, created just for this fic.

**xXxXxXxXxX**

I intend for TTOSH to be something of a lighthearted, romantic comedy fanfic, so there will be little to no doom and gloom or political intrigue in this storyline. This is my happy, cheerful (also probably a bit crackish) little side project away from my other doom and gloom fics with political intrigue and intense drama, so if the latter categories are what you are looking for, then this is definitely not the fic for you. Be warned!

**xXxXxXxXxX**

Last but not least, thanks for reading!

**xXxXxXxXxX**

Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-paws


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** The Taming of Shiho Hahnenfuss

**Author: **paws_bells

**Beta-ed by:** MelissaRose85

**Characters/Pairing: **Shiho Hahnenfuss and Yzak Joule

**Type:** Continuous (InComplete)

**Genre:** Humor/Romance

**Word Count:** 3949

**Rating: **T (Contains content not suitable for children)

**Disclaimer:** Gundam Seed/Gundam Seed Destiny belongs to Morosawa Chiaki and Fukuda Mitsuo.

**Summary: **Post GSD. When good girls go bad, their bewildered commanders are suddenly left wondering what on earth is going on. One-shot series.

**Prompt**: eat junk food

**Created on:** 03/07/13

**Completed on:** 02/07/13

**Chapter Last Revised on:** 29/07/13

* * *

**IV. Late Night Snack Marathon**

* * *

Shiho studied the shelves in the supermarket with the solemnity of someone who was about to make a life changing decision.

She was standing in the snack aisle and looked completely lost as she stared at the wide variety and array of colorful packaging and bright, cutesy boxes that lined the display ledges, all designed to attract the consumer's attention and interest. There were so many different types of fascinating looking products that she did not even know where to start. Shiho rarely shopped for groceries beyond the bare necessities; she did not cook – did not _know_ how to cook – and therefore usually either took her meals outside or just ordered takeout since it was more convenient to do so. As such, her fridge was often dismally empty, usually only occupied by perhaps a carton of yogurt or a sad bottle of juice.

As such, Shiho was now staring at the wide selection of junk food displayed before her like it was the most intriguing thing she had ever seen. Growing up, she and her brother had very seldom had the opportunity for such indulgences, and now that she was a ZAFT officer, her commitments as a soldier demanded that she keep a healthy lifestyle and maintain a fit physique, so she tended to refrain from sweets and unhealthy food as a general rule of thumb.

Not right now, though.

Shiho felt rather rebellious and, much to her delight, adventurous as she slowly strolled down the aisle, her shopping basket in tow, carefully peering at the riveting rows of large, crinkling bags of chips and crackers, and then inspecting the dazzling displays of candy bars and chocolate coated biscuits next. Everything looked so strange and cute and delectable to her, and by the time she walked through the checkout counter, she had bought way more than she had expected – two entire bags worth of junk food to be precise. As she walked back to her apartment complex with her bounty in tow, Shiho decided that perhaps she might have had been a bit too overzealous in her frivolous purchases. Crossing the road and about to head into her building, the brunette was wondering whether to hand off some of the treats to the neighboring children when she was distracted from her ponderings by a rather loud honk from her side of the road.

Turning towards the source of the noise, the brunette could only stare at the sleek, midnight blue sports car that had just prowled smoothly to a stop outside of her home, and immediately, a mild sense of dread assailed her at the sight of the familiar automobile. The expensive vehicle's purring motor was quickly cut off as its driver switched off the engine and turned off the headlights, and it was clearly too late for her to make a run for it, since the driver's side butterfly door hissed open and out emerged a certain Commander Yzak Joule.

Still, Shiho gamely tried all the same, ducking her head and feigning obliviousness as she continued to walk.

"Dammit, Hahnenfuss," her commanding officer snapped from behind her. "I'm not going to miraculously disappear even if you pretend not to see me."

The brunette stopped once again, and then she sighed inwardly. Schooling her features, she turned to greet the irritated male. "Good evening, Sir," she deadpanned flatly. "What a coincidence to run into you here, of all places."

Yzak scowled at his subordinate.

"I wouldn't exactly call this a coincidence," he muttered, and before she could respond to that, he ducked back into the car and pulled out two large boxes that had been sitting on the passenger side of the vehicle. Shiho's sense of foreboding increased, and she actually took a step back. The White Coat caught her retreat from over his burden and gave her an extremely unamused look. Then, tossing the keys of his vehicle to the valet, he brushed past her and strode through the entrance of her apartment building. Shiho stared at his retreating back in surprise before it occurred to her what he was doing. Now somewhat alarmed, she hurried after him, juggling her bags of groceries as she caught up to him in the lobby.

"What are you doing, Commander Joule?" she asked quickly, her usually even tone slightly raised in her surprise. He glanced at her and paused at her visibly perplexed expression. His blue eyes sharpened, and then he gave her a fierce glower.

"This," he indicated with a tilt of his head towards the white boxes in his arms, "is the accumulated paperwork that has been done, _badly_, by our good friend and your temporary replacement, Lieutenant Carlier. Thanks to his bumbling ineptitude, I have even more to do now since I have to clean up after his messes _and_ deal with my own responsibilities at the same time."

It also went without saying, judging by the highly irritable stare that he was aiming at her, that he fully expected her to do something about this. It wasn't as if that he was giving her a lot of choices anyhow; he was nearly at her doorstep already, and it would seem incredibly crass of her to turn him away since he looked as though he had come straight from ZAFT headquarters, and it was already nearing ten in the evening.

Shiho looked at the silver-haired male, and then she silently acquiesced to the inevitable. The violet-eyed brunette slowly offered. "Would you like to come up for a little bit, Sir?"

* * *

Shiho's apartment was quite spacious, and even though it wasn't overtly decorated – there was a slight minimalist feel to it – it was clearly furnished with comfort in mind, and the colors of her home were gentle and soothing, mirroring its owner's calm and sedate temperament.

Right now, though, her living room looked like a bomb had just gone off in it. There were documents and folders strewn all over the coffee table and stacked on the floors, and right in the middle of it all was the man who had so rudely and unceremoniously unleashed the mess in her private sanctuary. Resigned to playing host to her Commander since he did not look like he was going to leave anytime soon, Shiho at last exited her kitchen with a tray of refreshments and went over to offer her assistance.

The Joule heir was frowning at his ZAFT issue tablet computer, and the sleek electronic contraption was making all sorts of infernal beeping noises as its user tried ineffectively to silence it by the age old, hit and miss method of randomly pressing buttons. Judging by the increasingly annoyed look on Yzak's face, the man was not succeeding very well in his endeavor. Shiho placed the tray on the only uncluttered space on her coffee table, and then discreetly leaned over her boss' shoulder to see what was vexing him so.

It didn't take her very long to isolate the problem.

"…Sir, if you switch off the alarm settings, then I believe the sound will stop. Here, allow me to assist." He seemed to be having trouble locating the correct controls, and so, reaching over, she gently touched her finger against the small virtual button that was discreetly displayed on the side of the screen. The appointment reminder/alarm immediately fell silent. The silver-haired male scowled, looking at the hi-tech device as if it had just betrayed him.

"That wasn't there the last time I checked," he grumbled. "I swear, every time they update the damn software, they just have to scramble the user interface for no reason whatsoever." Then, he launched his planner and started to arrange his meeting schedule for the next day, which was what had caused the miniature table computer to start beeping in alarm in the first place. The brunette studied his agenda with cursory interest – evidently, he was supposed to meet with a few of the other Commanders tomorrow, most likely to discuss and outline the sequence of events for the joint training exercise with ORB that would be happening very soon. Her brow furrowed.

"You are arranging the meetings so late?" she asked in surprise, and his scowl deepened.

"They were supposed to be arranged in advance, but _your replacement_ _forgot_." As usual, he was wasting no time assigning blame. "I was only informed of the slip-up earlier today, so yes, I have no choice but to arrange the meetings now."

It explained his irritation and general crabbiness, which was exponentially worse than usual. Shiho ignored his pointed comment and looked at his schedule with focus instead.

"You should exchange the meeting times for Commander Boucher and Commander Golovkin," she commented at last. "Commander Boucher has a tendency to lunch early – he won't pay much attention to the meeting details if you arrange to see him right before noon. On the other hand, tomorrow is a Wednesday, which means that Commander Golovkin will take the entire afternoon off to play golf in October City – he won't appreciate the change in his schedule, so the best thing to do would be to switch your appointments with them simultaneously."

Yzak stared at her incredulously. "How do you know all that?" he demanded.

Shiho shrugged slightly, picking up her mug from the table and taking a small sip of tea before she replied. "The subordinates talk."

"The subordinates talk?" he parroted. Then, his eyes narrowed with realization. "And you _talk_ to them too, I presume?"

She set her cup back down and gave him a calm, level stare. "Don't worry, Sir. There's little of interest to speak of when it comes to you."

Yzak was flabbergasted. He was also rather offended by her flat remark, but more importantly… "Wait a minute. Are you telling me that the all of the other Commanders have time for things like early lunch breaks and long, leisurely games of golf while I'm slogging away like a slave in the office?!"

He sounded extremely indignant towards the end.

She nodded, seeing no reason to lie. "That's correct."

Yzak sputtered in disbelief. "I can't even- How is this-" He glared. "This is completely negligent and unfair!"

"The other Commanders prefer to delegate some of their duties to their subordinates, thus lessening their responsibilities and freeing up more time to focus on their personal pursuits. You, on the other hand, have a tendency to micromanage your professional obligations, and therefore it's not surprising that you are always buried in work."

"That's because I'm constantly surrounded by morons!" The White Coat wasted no time exclaiming. "The only ones remotely reliable and able to do their jobs adequately are you and Dearka!" There, he scowled again. "Hahnenfuss, you jolly well know why that is so!"

Of course Shiho knew.

The Joule Team had the highest manpower turnover rate out of all the other elite ZAFT teams since it also served as a training division for the freshly graduated soldiers from the academy, a starting unit to 'get their feet wet' in the military organization that they would be serving. Then, once the rookies were properly broken in, they were usually quickly transferred out to other vessels under the commands of their permanent regimental officers and the entire cycle began anew for the team. Needless to say, the recurring process always generated a lot of paperwork and extra headaches for the higher ranked members of the Joule Team, the Commander especially. It was unfortunate that Yzak was one of the youngest actively serving White Coats in ZAFT – in terms of leading experience, he was the least senior out of all the other Commanders, and so, no matter how talented he was, he was not exempted from the age old hierarchy of seniority, which naturally meant that he usually had the responsibilities that no one else sharing his rank wanted to deal with.

"How on earth am I supposed to trust these amateurs to do anything properly without messing up?" the silver-haired Joule muttered, gesturing at the mess around him as he did so. "Just look at this – if this isn't a prime example of complete incompetence, then I don't know what is. This is exactly why I need you back in the office!" Giving her a narrowed stare, he continued to grumble. "Of all the times to abandon your post, you just had to choose the worst timing ever."

Shiho just handed him his coffee – black, one flat teaspoon of sugar, exactly the way he liked it – and took a seat on the floor beside him. "I'm not abandoning my post; I'm just taking a well-deserved break," she iterated calmly, at the same time picking her way through the paperwork around her, glancing through the contents briefly, and then automatically and neatly sorting each paper by order of importance and the respective categories that it belonged to.

"In that case, where, then, is my well-deserved break?" Yzak retorted, eyeing her blithe efficiency with something akin to disgruntled envy. Bringing the cup to his mouth, he took several large swallows of his hot beverage, barely even registering the searing heat as the black brew went down his esophagus and hit the back of his empty stomach. He was going to need all the caffeine he could get his hands on just to last the night. Then, he reluctantly rearranged his meeting schedule as Hahnenfuss had suggested; the brunette had never led him wrong in all her years of service to him, and he saw no reason to distrust her counsel now.

"Technically, you are free to go on leave as well, Sir," Shiho commented as she handed him a folder that required his immediate attention. He took it from her and started to read, readying his pen to put down his signature once he approved of the document, at the same time maintaining the conversation with his subordinate. It was easier to keep awake and pay attention with company, he was starting to realize.

"Yeah, right. And who's going to take over for me while I'm off on this hypothetical vacation? Dearka? Can you imagine that? I don't even know if I would have an office to return to when I got back."

There was no denying that Elsman was an excellent Captain and an incredibly charismatic leader who never failed to inspire the loyalty and adoration of the soldiers under his command. Unfortunately, also true to his carefree, lighthearted nature, the blonde had zero organizational and bookkeeping skills whatsoever and it was already considered a miracle in itself that he hadn't accidentally sold off the _Rousseau_ in the last two years or so since he had taken over the command of the powerful warship. Shiho paused as she considered the validity of her Commander's blunt but not unkind statement, and then she silently agreed with his accurate assessment.

"It's just as well that you're such a loyal, hardworking soldier of ZAFT, then. Would you like something to eat, Commander?" she asked imperturbably at last, and Yzak, who had been waiting to hear what pearls of wisdom she would impart to him in response to his earlier remark, twitched.

"You just changed the subject completely!" he accused with heated exasperation before reluctantly subsiding, looking at her suspiciously as he put aside a completed document before reaching out for another. "…You can cook?"

"I can't cook to save my own life," she replied unflappably and entirely without shame. "But I bought some things from the supermarket earlier. Excuse me for a minute."

Abandoning the sheaf of papers in her hand, she stood up fluidly and retreated into the kitchen. Moments later, she reemerged with a large, transparent bowl filled with…_sweets_? And was also hugging a few large bags of chips. Walking up to him, she placed the offerings on the table, then sat back down beside him and reached for a candy bar that she had been eager to try. Tearing open the wrapper, she nibbled on the chocolate and proceeded to reclaim the file that she had been perusing earlier, not paying him a lick of attention as she enjoyed the rare treat. Yzak stared at her with a mix of incredulity and distaste.

"You often eat stuff like this for dinner?"

He was obviously not impressed, but she did not care what he thought.

"Not really," she replied after a particularly satisfying lick of the sweet, gooey confection, not even looking up from her papers as she did so. "But I'm on vacation right now, so I can eat what I want."

He scowled slightly at her. "I'm starting to really hate that excuse." He slowly picked through the bowl for something remotely nutritional but it all looked equally loaded with high amounts of sugar and unnaturally processed carbohydrates. Grimacing, the silver-haired male pushed away from the snack bowl and reluctantly approached the potato chips instead. Shiho watched him curiously as she took another small bite of her chocolate bar.

"You haven't had dinner yet?" she asked.

He scowled at the reminder even as he opened a bag of chips and put a piece in his mouth. He regretted it immediately – it was so salty and greasy that he didn't quite understand why anybody would want to eat this. He quickly gulped down his coffee to get rid of the awful taste that coated his tongue.

"I was stuck in the office all day clearing the backlog of paperwork. I don't even remember if I ate lunch," he grumbled.

Shiho's eyes suddenly gleamed, and he caught sight of the unusually lively look of interest on her face. He gave her an odd look – it seemed that his Major was getting stranger and stranger in terms of behavior every time he turned around.

"Would you like to order some takeout?" she offered suddenly. "I'll pay."

* * *

Half an hour later, Yzak stared in disbelief at the amount of food that surrounded him, courtesy of the efficient deliverymen of the _three_ different fast food restaurants that his clearly crazy subordinate had enthusiastically ordered from.

"Are you _insane_?" the White Coat demanded to know as he looked between all the junk food and the clearly fascinated features of Hahnenfuss as she examined the newly arrived packages of unhealthy goodness with the riveted attentiveness of one who had never seen such wonder before. "There's enough food here for ten people!"

The brunette looked at him at last. She shrugged. "They all looked so good on the online menus and I didn't know what to choose. I might have gone a bit overboard."

"A bit?" he echoed in disbelief, eying the buckets of fried chicken and the small stack of burgers with appalled wariness. He pointed at them immediately. "These are no better than those candies and potato chips from earlier!"

Shiho shrugged again, at the same time biting into a French fry. It was delicious. "I'm on vacation right now; I can eat what I want," she iterated once again, and he glowered at her. Since she had already bought all the food, there was really no choice but for him to consume some of it, though that really wasn't a particularly huge issue to be concerned about. At this point of time, he was so hungry that he probably could have eaten cardboard just to fill the gnawing emptiness in his stomach. That kept his complaints to a bare minimum as he slowly reached for a burger and unwrapped the paper packaging. The tantalizing aroma of the juicy grilled beef patty and the fragrant melted cheddar cheese immediately assailed his sense of smell and automatically made his mouth water. Yzak frowned suspiciously at the junk food, slightly annoyed by how his body was betraying him so easily. Then, he looked up to see Shiho observing his reaction to the food with curious fascination. He scowled.

"Hahnenfuss, if I get an upset stomach because of this, I'm holding you personally responsible," he told her immediately, before reluctantly taking a bite out of the burger. Surprisingly enough, it did not taste as awful or as oily as he had expected. It was actually quite good, not that he would ever admit it after the fuss he just kicked up over it.

"It's no fault of mine if you possess a sensitive digestive system, Sir," Shiho remarked before she bit into a crispy chicken tender, and he gave her an offended look.

"I do not have a sensitive digestive system," he snapped, and to prove his point, he took another generous bite out of his food, chewing with vigorous determination as he shot her a baleful stare.

The brunette looked like she was about to reply when her mobile phone buzzed with an incoming message. Checking it, she suddenly told him. "Officer Elsman says that he will be glad to help with the extra food. He will be by shortly with his significant other, and he also mentioned that he will be bringing some…entertainment."

By then, Yzak had returned to looking at the paperwork on the table and didn't immediately register everything that the Major was telling him. "I don't particularly care," he muttered. To the White Coat, this particular scenario was reminiscent of the many instances in the past when they were all working overtime together in the ZAFT headquarters and Dearka was drafted to buy takeout for them from one of the nearby eateries, and therefore he did not pay attention to her comment beyond the fact that the blonde Captain would be coming over shortly. Mere seconds later, though, Yzak mentally backtracked and processed her words to him, and realization quickly occurred.

"Wait, what?!" he exclaimed quite abruptly, nearly dropping his half eaten burger onto the pristine documents in the process as his head shot back up to look at her disbelievingly. "Dearka is coming? _Now_? With Haw?" he paused, and then scowled again. "And what entertainment?!"

Shiho switched off the backlight of her phone and then set it aside before answering with a slight nod of her head. At the same time, she dug into her meal with decided enthusiasm. "He mentioned something about movies and board games," she repeated dutifully after she swallowed her food. The silver-haired Joule looked plain incredulous. Then, he glanced down at his watch just to make sure that he wasn't delusional. Yup, the interface of the sleek device read the time with perfect accuracy, indicating to its user that it was already past twelve in the morning.

"They are coming over for food _this late_?" Yzak questioned in a flabbergasted manner. Shouldn't most people be in bed by now?

"Evidently, they were just about to head out for dinner."

Yzak was incredibly skeptical.

"They were about to go for dinner _now_?" he parroted. "_After midnight_?"

Shiho was as unperturbed as always. "From the nature of Officer Elsman's text, it seemed that Miss Haw may have had some culinary mishaps. They have only just gotten the issue sorted out with the local fire department."

"Local fire department-" Yzak broke off, an increasingly ludicrous look on his face. Obviously Dearka had not been exaggerating after all when he mentioned sometime back that his Natural girlfriend could not cook.

Shiho eyed her commanding officer carefully. The poor man was obviously quite stressed by his work, for he seemed rather frazzled and distracted, and for some reason or another, he also kept repeating everything she told him. "Are you alright, Commander Joule?" she asked at last, and then he recovered from his surprise to remember something else.

"MOVIES?! BOARD GAMES?!" he suddenly bellowed, looking rather cross as he did so. "I'M TRYING TO WORK HERE! DOES THAT DAMN DEARKA THINKS THAT WE ARE HAVING A SLUMBER PARTY?!"

* * *

**Omake**

It was nearly four in the morning when Hahnenfuss' apartment finally quieted down. The women had nodded off on the couch a while ago; Shiho sitting primly on one corner with the side of her head leaning lightly against the neck rest while Miriallia was curled up beside her, an afghan throw blanket wrapped snugly around the two as they slept soundly. The television had been muted in deference to the girls' slumbering states, and Yzak, for one, was extremely grateful for the peace and quiet. Now, he could hopefully finish off the rest of the paperwork without all the unnecessary noise and disruption.

Unfortunately, the silver-haired Joule had completed his thought just a moment too soon, for stupid Elsman suddenly decided that it was a good time to bug him now that the women were not available to interact with him.

"So." The tanned blonde looked very amused as he peered at his best friend from across the coffee table. He was promptly ignored, but that had never stopped him before, so Yzak doubted that would work now. He was right. "What on earth were you doing in Shiho's place tonight, Yzak?"

The White Coat signed his name with a flourish at the bottom of the document that he had been perusing before closing the folder and setting it aside with the rest of the approved ones. Then, without pause, he reached for another of the coded files from the slowly diminishing stack and started the mind numbing process of reading up on the various administrative issues of his team.

"Go away, Dearka," he muttered flatly, by now too tired to even want to expend needless energy to yell. "If you are not going to help, then at least don't be a hindrance."

His demand was completely disregarded, of course.

"Boy, I sure was surprised to find you here of all places," Dearka continued with ungodly cheer. His friend shot him a distinctly unamused and disgusted look. How on earth the other man could maintain such high spirits in the ungodly hours of the morning was completely beyond the Joule heir. Knowing Elsman like he did, Yzak was aware that the Black Coat wasn't going to let go of this topic until he had completely satisfied his curiosity.

"There's nothing to be surprised about," the Commander muttered, his eyes glued to the paperwork in front of him. "Hahnenfuss is my subordinate; what's wrong with working with her? In case you have suddenly gone blind, notice that we are surrounded by documents and folders here."

Dearka blinked at that. "Yes, but she's on leave right now, you know."

"So?" Evidently, there was no such thing as personal time off when one was working for Yzak Joule.

The golden-haired Captain could not believe that he had to spell it out for his incredibly dense friend.

"Dude, you went straight to her without even a moment's pause. Out of all your subordinates, she's the one who stood out the most to you, admit it."

Yzak frowned at that, reaching for his cup of coffee that had just been recently refilled. "Of course she stands out," he retorted matter-of-factly after taking a large gulp of the sobering brew. "She's the most efficient, so of course I'd go straight to her so she could help resolve this mess."

Dearka just looked at the fair-haired male with something akin to disbelief. "That's all?" he asked. "Really?"

The ZAFT Commander shot his friend and colleague a narrow-eyed stare as he set his mug back down. "Yes. What on earth were you expecting? You think I want to be stuck here with all this paperwork at four in the morning because it's _fun_? Hahnenfuss' exceptional organizational skills are a valuable asset to have, and thanks to her assistance earlier, I will probably be able to finish going through all these documents – all of which I will need later in a consecutive series of meetings –in a few hours' time. That's, of course, if you kindly leave me to it."

Sensing that his best friend was starting to lose his patience, an inwardly incredulous Dearka backed off and left the irritable Joule to his tasks. He could not believe that Yzak was so completely oblivious when it came to his natural regard for Shiho. The golden-haired man would have felt almost sorry for the brunette female, but then the young woman appeared equally as unconscious of her own response towards her Commander. Even Millie had picked up on it, so it wasn't just him, and therefore Dearka didn't particularly understand how the two in question could work together so seamlessly and yet still be so utterly and blithely unaware of each other.

"I wish Hahnenfuss would just hurry up and come back to work," Yzak muttered disgruntledly then. "From now on, I'm laying down a rule forbidding her from leaving my side where she's so desperately needed."

Dearka choked at that. He quickly looked at Yzak with widened eyes, but the grumpy, overworked and sleep deprived male did not seem to notice what he had said – or, rather, unknowingly implied.

_Completely oblivious. _

_Oh, for the love of god…_

"Just start dating the girl already and solve the problem once and for all," the blonde muttered under his breath.

"What? For goodness' sake, Dearka, speak properly; I can't hear you if you are just mumbling to yourself over there."

Suddenly, Dearka decided that it was just as well that his idiot friend was as he was when it came to such matters.

"I think I'm going to enjoy watching you fall into this pit of your own making after all, buddy."

"What are you talking about now?"

"Oh, nothing."

* * *

_::tsuzuku::_

* * *

**Questions That I Would Like To Answer Before You Ask:**

Headcanon: Yzak's a health nut. He's very particular about what he puts in his body, hence the fuss he kicked up over all the junk food that Shiho's feeding him. Shiho's more laidback about such things, and she's always wanted to try a late night snack marathon with friends, so this was what happened.

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Commander Boucher and Commander Golovkin are both my OCs (boy am I creating a lot of OCs for this fic), but please do not be alarmed – you probably will not be seeing/reading much of them since they are just side characters to fill in the plot.

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According to Gundam Seed Wiki, Miriallia Haw is a terrible cook. I sort of took advantage of that fact in this chapter, haha.

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Well, everything else seems to be more or less self-explanatory, so I think I will stop here. I hope some of you enjoyed this chapter!

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Last but not least, thanks for reading!

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Your reviews fuel my passion for writing. So please leave a comment if you like this fic!

-paws


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